HOME
*





Variation On A Theme (play)
''Variation on a Theme'' is a 1958 play by the British writer Terence Rattigan. It is a reworking of Alexandre Dumas, fils's nineteenth century novel and subsequent play '' La Dame aux Camélias''. Original production Directed by John Gielgud, the play opened (after a pre-London tour), at the Globe Theatre, London, on 8 May 1958, with the following cast: *Hettie - Jean Anderson *Rose - Margaret Leighton *Ron - Jeremy Brett *Kurt - George Pravda *Fiona - Felicity Ross *Adrian - Lawrence Dalzell *Mona - Mavis Villiers *Sam - Michael Goodliffe Lawrence Michael Andrew Goodliffe (1 October 1914 – 20 March 1976) was an English actor known for playing suave roles such as doctors, lawyers and army officers. He was also sometimes cast in working-class parts. Biography Goodliffe was ... Reception While not received well by the critics, the play ran for 132 performances. Kenneth Tynan wrote in '' The Observer'':"As far as I could see the star of the show was Norman Hartne ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


Variations On A Theme (play)
''Variation on a Theme'' is a 1958 play by the British writer Terence Rattigan. It is a reworking of Alexandre Dumas, fils's nineteenth century novel and subsequent play '' La Dame aux Camélias''. Original production Directed by John Gielgud, the play opened (after a pre-London tour), at the Globe Theatre, London, on 8 May 1958, with the following cast: *Hettie - Jean Anderson *Rose - Margaret Leighton *Ron - Jeremy Brett *Kurt - George Pravda *Fiona - Felicity Ross *Adrian - Lawrence Dalzell *Mona - Mavis Villiers *Sam - Michael Goodliffe Lawrence Michael Andrew Goodliffe (1 October 1914 – 20 March 1976) was an English actor known for playing suave roles such as doctors, lawyers and army officers. He was also sometimes cast in working-class parts. Biography Goodliffe was ... Reception While not received well by the critics, the play ran for 132 performances. Kenneth Tynan wrote in '' The Observer'':"As far as I could see the star of the show was Norman Hartne ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


George Pravda
George Pravda (19 June 19161 May 1985) was a Czechoslovak theatre, film and television actor. Early life He began his career in Czechoslovakia, where he was credited as Jiří Pravda, and then emigrated to the United Kingdom in 1956. Career He appeared in numerous British films and television series. His film credits include: '' Battle of the V-1'' (1958), '' Thunderball'' (1965), ''Inspector Clouseau'' (1968), ''Frankenstein Must Be Destroyed'' (1969), ''The Kremlin Letter'' (1970), ''Taste of Excitement'' (1970), ''Dracula'' (1974), ''The London Connection'' (1979), '' Hanover Street'' (1979) and ''Firefox'' (1982). TV appearances include: ''No Hiding Place''; '' The Avengers''; ''The Saint''; '' The Baron''; ''The Prisoner''; ''Special Branch''; '' Department S''; ''Callan''; '' Softly, Softly''; ''Doctor Who'' (in the serials ''The Enemy of the World'', ''The Mutants'' and ''The Deadly Assassin''); ''Doomwatch''; ''Codename''; ''Public Eye''; ''Spy Trap''; ''Moonbase 3''; ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

1958 Plays
Events January * January 1 – The European Economic Community (EEC) comes into being. * January 3 – The West Indies Federation is formed. * January 4 ** Edmund Hillary's Commonwealth Trans-Antarctic Expedition completes the third overland journey to the South Pole, the first to use powered vehicles. ** Sputnik 1 (launched on October 4, 1957) falls to Earth from its orbit, and burns up. * January 13 – Battle of Edchera: The Moroccan Army of Liberation ambushes a Spanish patrol. * January 27 – A Soviet-American executive agreement on cultural, educational and scientific exchanges, also known as the "Lacy-Zarubin Agreement, Lacy–Zarubin Agreement", is signed in Washington, D.C. * January 31 – The first successful American satellite, Explorer 1, is launched into orbit. February * February 1 – Egypt and Syria unite, to form the United Arab Republic. * February 6 – Seven Manchester United F.C., Manchester United footballers are among the 21 people killed i ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Norman Hartnell
Sir Norman Bishop Hartnell, KCVO (12 June 1901 – 8 June 1979) was a leading British fashion designer, best known for his work for the ladies of the royal family. Hartnell gained the Royal Warrant as Dressmaker to Queen Elizabeth in 1940, and Royal Warrant as Dressmaker to Queen Elizabeth II in 1957. Princess Beatrice also wore a dress designed for Queen Elizabeth by Hartnell for her wedding in 2020. Early life and career Hartnell was born in Streatham, southwest London. His parents were then publicans and owners of the Crown & Sceptre, at the top of Streatham Hill. Educated at Mill Hill School, Hartnell became an undergraduate at Magdalene College, Cambridge and read Modern Languages. Hartnell's main interests were in performing in, and designing for, productions at Cambridge University, and first came to fashion after designing for the university's Footlights performances whilst an undergraduate, a production which transferred to Daly's Theatre, London. He then worked un ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


The Observer
''The Observer'' is a British newspaper published on Sundays. It is a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', whose parent company Guardian Media Group Limited acquired it in 1993. First published in 1791, it is the world's oldest Sunday newspaper. History Origins The first issue, published on 4 December 1791 by W.S. Bourne, was the world's first Sunday newspaper. Believing that the paper would be a means of wealth, Bourne instead soon found himself facing debts of nearly £1,600. Though early editions purported editorial independence, Bourne attempted to cut his losses and sell the title to the government. When this failed, Bourne's brother (a wealthy businessman) made an offer to the government, which also refused to buy the paper but agreed to subsidise it in return for influence over its editorial content. As a result, the paper soon took a strong line against radicals such as Thomas Paine, Francis Burdett and Joseph Priestley. 19th century In 180 ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  




Kenneth Tynan
Kenneth Peacock Tynan (2 April 1927 – 26 July 1980) was an English theatre critic and writer. Making his initial impact as a critic at ''The Observer'', he praised Osborne's ''Look Back in Anger'' (1956), and encouraged the emerging wave of British theatrical talent. In 1963, Tynan was appointed as the new National Theatre Company's literary manager. An opponent of theatre censorship, Tynan is often believed to have been the first person to say " fuck" on British television, during a live broadcast in 1965. Later in his life, he settled in California, where he resumed his writing career. Early life Tynan was born in Birmingham, England, to Letitia Rose Tynan and (as he was led to believe) "Peter Tynan" ( see below). Tynan had a stammer which was more pronounced as a child. He also possessed early on a high degree of articulate intelligence. By the age of six, he was already keeping a diary. At King Edward's School, Birmingham, he was a brilliant student of whom one of his m ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


Michael Goodliffe
Lawrence Michael Andrew Goodliffe (1 October 1914 – 20 March 1976) was an English actor known for playing suave roles such as doctors, lawyers and army officers. He was also sometimes cast in working-class parts. Biography Goodliffe was born in Bebington, Cheshire, the son of a vicar, and educated at St Edmund's School, Canterbury, and Keble College, Oxford. He began his career in repertory theatre in Liverpool before joining the company of the Stratford Memorial Theatre in Stratford upon Avon. He joined the British Army at the beginning of the Second World War, and received a commission as a Second Lieutenant in the Royal Warwickshire Regiment in February 1940. He was wounded in the leg and captured at the Battle of Dunkirk. Goodliffe was incorrectly listed as killed in action, and even had his obituary published in a newspaper. He was to spend the rest of the war a prisoner in Germany. Whilst in captivity he produced and acted in (and in some cases wrote) many plays ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


Mavis Villiers
Mavis Villiers (born Mavis Clare Cooney; 10 December 190923 February 1976) was an Australian-born British actress of stage, film and television. Her parents were John Cooney and Clara Smythe. Her brother, Cecil Cooney, was a camera operator and cinematographer.Canadian Passenger Lists, 'Niagra' May 1921
Ancestry.com; accessed 25 July 2015.
Her stage name, Villiers, was taken from her maternal grandfather.


Life and career

Mavis emigrated to the with her family in 1921, aged 11. The family settled in

picture info

Jeremy Brett
Peter Jeremy William Huggins (3 November 1933 – 12 September 1995), known professionally as Jeremy Brett, was an English actor. He played fictional detective Sherlock Holmes in four Sherlock Holmes (1984 TV series), Granada TV series from 1984 to 1994 in all 41 episodes. His career spanned from stage, to television and film, to Shakespeare and musical theatre. He also played the smitten Freddy Eynsford-Hill in the 1964 Warner Bros. production of ''My Fair Lady (film), My Fair Lady''. Early life Jeremy Brett was born Peter Jeremy William Huggins at Berkswell Grange in Berkswell, then in Warwickshire. His birthdate was actually 3 November 1933,Birth Record on 3 November 1933 for Peter Jeremy William Huggins in the England & Wales, Civil Registration Birth Index, 1916-2005 but it has also been stated as December 1933 or 1935, according to many sources. He was the son of Lieutenant Colonel (United Kingdom), Lieutenant Colonel Henry William Huggins, Distinguished Service Order, DSO, ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


Terence Rattigan
Sir Terence Mervyn Rattigan (10 June 191130 November 1977) was a British dramatist and screenwriter. He was one of England's most popular mid-20th-century dramatists. His plays are typically set in an upper-middle-class background.Geoffrey Wansell. ''Terence Rattigan'' (London: Fourth Estate, 1995); He wrote ''The Winslow Boy'' (1946), '' The Browning Version'' (1948), '' The Deep Blue Sea'' (1952) and ''Separate Tables'' (1954), among many others. A troubled homosexual who saw himself as an outsider, Rattigan wrote a number of plays which centred on issues of sexual frustration, failed relationships, or a world of repression and reticence. Early life Terence Rattigan was born in 1911 in South Kensington,Wansell, p. 13. London, of Irish extraction. He had an elder brother, Brian. They were the grandsons of Sir William Henry Rattigan, a notable India-based jurist and later a Liberal Unionist Member of Parliament for North-East Lanarkshire. His father was Frank Rattigan CMG, ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  




Margaret Leighton
Margaret Leighton, CBE (26 February 1922 – 13 January 1976) was an English actress, active on stage and television, and in film. Her film appearances included (her first credited debut feature) in Anatole de Grunwald's ''The Winslow Boy'' (1948). For ''The Go-Between'' (1971), she won the BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role and was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. Leighton began her career on stage in 1938, before joining the Old Vic and making her Broadway debut in 1946. A four-time Tony Award nominee, she twice won the Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play: for the original Broadway productions of ''Separate Tables'' (1957) and ''The Night of the Iguana'' (1962). She also won an Emmy Award for a 1970 television version of ''Hamlet''. Life and career Born in Barnt Green, Worcestershire, Leighton made her stage debut as Dorothy in ''Laugh with Me'' (1938), which also was performed that year for BBC Television. She became a star of t ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


Jean Anderson
Jean Anderson (12 December 1907 – 1 April 2001) was an English actress best remembered for her television roles as hard-faced matriarch Mary Hammond in the BBC drama '' The Brothers'' (1972–1976) and as rebellious aristocrat Lady Jocelyn "Joss" Holbrook in the Second World War series '' Tenko'' (1982–1985). She also had distinguished careers on stage and in 46 films. Early Life and Stage Mary Jean Heriot Anderson was born 12 December 1907 in Eastbourne, Sussex to Scottish parents, and grew up in Guildford, Surrey. She trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art from 1926-1928. Her first professional engagement was in ''Many Waters'' at the Prince's Theatre, Bristol, in 1929 with her fellow RADA student Robert Morley. In 1934 she joined the Cambridge Festival Theatre, appearing in ''The Circle'' by Somerset Maugham and ''Yahoo'' by Lord Longford. In 1935 she played Lady Macbeth with The Seagull Players in Leeds. In 1936 Lord Longford's company from the Gate Theatre, Dub ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]